This patent relates to a package for large appliances. More particularly, this patent relates to a see-through package for irregular shaped major home appliances that can be lifted from the bottom with a baseloid lift truck.
Irregular shaped home appliances such as washers, dryers and stoves, in which a rear control console extends above the cabinet, are primarily packaged in six-sided corrugated cartons for two major reasons. First, the irregular shape makes it difficult to design packaging that transfers load through the product. Second, baseloid handling requirements for U.S. appliances make it difficult to design cartonless (transparent) packaging.
Six sided corrugated cartons (a.k.a. boxes) provide other benefits as well. They protect the appliance from damage during shipping and handling. They allow stacking of boxed appliances if sufficient structural support is provided, such as by inserting vertical support posts inside the box between the carton walls and the appliance.
One disadvantage of six sided corrugated cartons is that they do not allow easy viewing of the packaged appliance. Since it has become increasingly popular to display appliances in their original packaging, the lack of visibility afforded by six sided corrugated cartons is a serious short-coming.
Packaged appliances, including those packaged in six sided corrugated cartons, are usually lifted and moved using either forklift trucks, clamp trucks or baseloid lift trucks. Forklift trucks lift the packaged appliance from the bottom and require some clearance between the package and the floor. Clamp trucks lift the appliance by applying clamp pressure to the sides of the package and require lateral support to prevent the package from being crushed. Baseloid lift trucks lift the appliance by a baseloid flap or flange typically located near the top rear of the appliance package as explained further below.
Baseloid lift trucks have a vertically oriented lift blade extending from a frame secured to an elevator mechanism mounted on the front end of the lift truck. To lift an appliance with a baseloid lift truck, the vertical blade is placed in flat contact with the rear wall of the packaged appliance. As the elevator mechanism raises the lift blade, the top edge of the blade extends into a crease between the side of the package and a downwardly extending flap, referred to as a baseloid flap. The lift blade is raised until a horizontal lifting bar mounted on the blade abuts the bottom edge of the baseloid flap. The appliance can then be lifted off the floor by the elevator mechanism and moved.
Because the baseloid flap is located at the top rear of the package, baseloid lifting causes the unit to tip forward slightly. When two (or more) stacked units are lifted the tendency to tip forward is even greater, which can cause the top unit to slide forward. As the weight of the top unit shifts forward, the front of the top cap on the bottom unit can bend or collapse downward as much as six inches, a phenomenon referred to as trapezoiding. As the front of the top cap deflects downward, the top unit can slide further forward and fall off.
One solution to the trapezoiding problem, particularly as it applies to see-through packages, was proposed in commonly owned Muyskens U.S. Pat. No. 6,367,626, which provides a package comprising a clamshell-like framework including a corrugated top cap, front and rear corner posts, two bottom members and a baseloid flange at the top of the unit. The framework is glued together prior to installing it over the appliance. After the framework has been placed around the appliance, and with the baseloid flange in an outwardly extended horizontal position, a transparent film may be stretch wrapped around the unit. When the wrapping is complete, the baseloid flange is folded down and a horizontal band is placed around the top cap and baseloid flange. The top cap includes side panels that extend diagonally downward from the baseloid flange in the rear to the corner posts in front. These side panels help prevent trapezoiding during baseloid lifting of stacked units by transferring the downward force of the top unit to the bottom of the package. The strength and integrity of the package is reliant on the front corner posts being glued to the top cap.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an alternative solution to the problem of providing a see-through package for irregular shaped appliances that resists trapezoiding when handled with a baseloid lift truck.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a see-through package that does not require gluing the corner posts to the top cap.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a package that can be lifted from the bottom by a baseloid lift truck.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a package that allows a common baseloid blade height for appliances of different heights, thereby allowing warehouse drivers to pick up packaged appliances of different heights with the same baseloid height setting.
Yet another object is to provide a package that uses a plastic bag installed on the inside of the bottom and top caps to prevent the plastic from being torn by a baseloid lifting blade and to eliminate the need to have the plastic stretched or shrunk over the unit.
Further and additional objects will appear from the description, accompanying drawings, and appended claims.